African Universities: Strategies for Revitalization, William S. Saint

=============African Universities: The Way Forward===========

Though relatively young, universities in Sub-Saharan Africa
have accomplished much. They have grown from just six
institutions in 1960 to more than 100 in 1993, with a
corresponding rise in enrollments. In some cases, they have
developed relevant curricula and revised their content to
reflect African priorities, legitimized research and
established specialized university research units. They have
also largely replaced expatriate faculty with indigenous
staff, and fostered intellectual communities. A major
achievement has been to produce the skilled human resources
required to staff and manage public and private institutions
in the newly independent states.

In the course of their brief history, thinking about the role
of universities has also evolved. In Francophone Africa, the
early classical academic approach is giving way to a more
utilitarian orientation. As regards Anglophone universities,
governments have tended to encourage a technocratic definition
of their role, which has been reinforced by the current
economic crisis on the continent. Also, a growing number of
African observers see a potential for universities to build
upon the strengths of traditional culture so as to modernize
in a positive,indigenous fashion.

There is much to suggest that African universities are nearing
the end of their initial phase of development. Their mandates
at the time of independence now require reassessment as a
result of changes in the world, in Africa, and in the
universities themselves. Internationally, the emergence of
global markets has created a competitive world economic system
characterized by rapid knowledge generation and technological
innovation. These changes affect local labor markets and the
types of skills they require. Within Africa, high population
growth rates and increased access to education have boosted
the social demand for higher education, leading to rising
university enrollments and a proliferation of tertiary
institutions. Universities have also changed, becoming mass-
based and diversified institutions operating under severe
financial constraints. In many countries, conditions which
engender these second generation issues have deteriorated to
the point where the need for action is now urgent.

This study, Universities in Africa: Strategies for
Stabilization and Revitalization, seeks to provide guidance to
persons committed to renewing and expanding the capacity for
human resource development within Africa's institutions of
higher learning.

The Scope of the Problem

To varying degrees, the universities of Sub-Saharan Africa
face the following problems.

* Enrollments are often increasing faster than the
capacity to plan for and finance this growth. The
university student population on the continent grew by
61 percent between 1980 and 1990, rising from 337,000 to
an estimated 542,700.

* Current patterns of higher education expenditure are
unsustainable in many cases. The model of publicly
supported residential universities is inequitable and
financially inefficient. During the 1980s, the capacity
of African governments to finance public services fell
sharply. Higher education suffered in consequence, with
its share of overall education sector budgets sliding
from 19.1 percent ( 1980-84 ) to 17.6 percent ( 1985-
88). Recurrent budget expenditures per student,
measured in constant terms, also fell by about two-
thirds during this period. This was not due to
efficiency gains through improved management, but was
the negative result of cutbacks in research, staff
development, library acquisitions, and maintenance
prompted by rising enrollments.

* There is general agreement that educational quality is
declining as the result of increased enrollments and/or
reduced funding. This decline is manifested in falling
student examination scores, reduced rigor in staff
recruitment and promotion criteria, diminished research
output, and complaints by employers regarding the
ability of university graduates to perform.

* Rising graduate unemployment, inadequate performance on
the job, and weak research production combine to bring
the relevance of universities to national needs under
growing public scrutiny. Relevance is understood to
include educational choices within the university that
are in tune with the national economy and responsive to
the prevailing labor market; appropriate curricula;
capacity for critical and innovative thinking on issues
of national importance; the transmission of essential
professional and cultural values; institutional
processes and behavior that equip graduates for
leadership in society; and adequate regional, gender,
and ethnic representation in the composition of staff
and students.

* The costs of university training are high and often
unsustainable.

* University management is weak and needs considerable
strengthening.

* The working relationship between government and
university is ineffective.

* Access to university raises a number of equity issues.

Initiating Reform

To address these concerns, African nations must first answer
three questions.

* What kind of university do we have?

* What kind of university do we need?

* What kind of university can we afford?

The answers will differ from country to country in accordance
with national circumstances, culture, and priorities. With
varying emphases, a general consensus in Africa holds that its
principal higher education issues are quality, relevance,
finances, efficiency, equity, and governance. What is not
clear is how these issues should be addressed and where one
should start. This study offers alternatives, tested and
untested, for policy makers and institutional managers to
consider as they tackle the complex challenges of higher
education reform. It is based on the experiences of Africans
who are committed to this undertaking, and who are beginning
to generate innovative responses to the extraordinary
difficulties they confront.

Efforts at higher education reform stand little chance of
being sustainable unless they are grounded in broad public
consensus. Failure to invest in public education and
consensus-building prior to the institution of policy changes
can have high costs in terms of public reaction, student
protest, and damaged working relationships amongst key actors.
The benefit of doing so is a more stable and effective reform
process.

Several alternative approaches to consensus building have
emerged on the African continent. The self-study is one of
these. It is an institutional review, initiated by management,
that uses a process of internal consultation to evaluate the
existing mission statement, organizational structure, key
policies and installed capacity for consistency and
responsiveness to the external environment. The resulting
institutional development proposals can then be shared with
government, donor, and private sector representatives in the
effort to build agreement regarding the university's future
role and objectives.

An inter-institutional steering committee is a sub-sector
review undertaken by government to appraise higher education
policy and its financial and organizational implications.
Representation often includes key government ministries,
university leaders, and relevant professional associations,
and a final report is normally presented to government for
executive decision.

An intermediary coordinating agency with oversight
responsibility for the higher education sector would play a
mediating role between government and the university system in
the effort to establish common ground for policy initiative.

An external visiting committee would be comprised of outside
experts who periodically review all aspects of a higher
education system or institution at the invitation of
government.

If Africa's universities are to be stabilized and revitalized,
universities themselves must seize the initiative. One way to
do this is through the development of an updated university
mission statement. This mission statement should focus
integrated attention on educational quality, finances, access,
curriculum, distribution of students among the various
disciplines, staff development, research, governance, and
management. A second, less direct path lies through the
promotion of higher education research. At present,
relatively little analysis of Africa's higher education needs
is carried out by Africans. Consequently, much of the current
policy discussion in this field is framed and promoted by
donor agencies. If needed reforms are to be appropriate and
lasting, the talents and experience of African scholars must
be brought to bear. More important, the process must begin
immediately as the African higher education crisis is already
well advanced.

Conclusions

The study's principal messages are as follows.

* Universities must seize the initiative in order to
achieve their own stabilization and revitalization; this
can be done by undertaking an institutional self-study
that updates the university's mission statement and can
be used to build the internal and external consensus
needed to undertake reform.

* In order to increase access, maintain standards of
educational quality, and ensure institutional stability,
universities must diversify their financial bases,
particularly through cost-recovery for non-academic
services, the introduction of targeted fees, and a
calculated expansion of income-generating activities.

* Greater autonomy from government, particularly in
financial administration, is required by universities if
they are to become more entrepreneurial, and if they are
to provide the incentives necessary to encourage quality
performance and management efficiency.

* More professional management at all levels -- through
staff training, strategic hiring, and computerized
management information systems -- is the best short-term
strategy for freeing resources (through improved
efficiency) to meet university needs.

* Universities must invest in themselves if they are to
remain viable centers of higher learning; this means
that they must provide yearly budget allocations for
education materials, library acquisitions, research,
staff development, and the maintenance of buildings and
equipment.

* Managing the social demand for higher education is best
achieved by expanding access through a differentiated
higher education system, composed of public and private
institutions with diverse missions, that offers students
a range of choices and study regimes, and by controlling
access to this system through the use of competitive
entrance examinations.

* The most useful role for donors is to support the
development of long term institution-building
strategies. Activities consistent with this approach
include the preparation of updated university mission
statements, efforts to strengthen and professionalize
management, institutional linkage arrangements to
bolster particular departments, and research on higher
education policy and performance. In settings of acute
institutional deterioration, donors should consider
contributions towards recurrent costs, particularly for
educational inputs, library acquisitions, equipment and
building maintenance, and efficiency-enhancing operating
expenses.

If appropriate economic models and fresh directions for
development are to be crafted by Africans, and if tradition
and modernity are to be effectively fused, then academically
and financially sound universities are an imperative for Sub-
Saharan Africa.